Warning: This story contains details that some may find distressing.
Multiple women have taken their lives in Sudan’s central Gezira state after being raped by paramilitary fighters in the brutal civil war raging in the country, rights groups and activists have stated.
The reports come after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were accused by the UN of “atrocious crimes”, including mass killings, in the state last week.
With RSF fighters continuing to advance, one rights group has informed the BBC that they are in contact with six women who are considering taking their own lives as they fear being sexually assaulted.
But the RSF has dismissed a recent UN report blaming a rise in sexual violence on its combatants, telling the BBC the accusations “were not based on evidence”.
The intense struggle for power between the army and RSF has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and displacement of more than 11 million individuals since the conflict began in April 2023.
The head of the UN World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, visited the aid hub of Port Sudan this week, and told the BBC that the country could face the world’s largest-ever humanitarian crisis if a ceasefire is not achieved.
She cautioned that millions of people could perish from starvation.
Reports of paramilitary fighters rampaging in Gezira follow the recent defection to the army of Abu Aqla Kayka, the RSF’s top commander in the state.
“The RSF initiated a revenge campaign in areas under the control of Abu Kayka. They looted, killed civilians who resisted, and raped women and young girls,” Hala al-Karib, head of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (Siha), informed the BBC.
Siha, which has been documenting gender-based violence in Sudan during the war, had confirmed three cases of suicide by women in the last week in Gezira state, she said.
Ms. Karib mentioned that two incidents occurred in the village of Al Seriha and the third in the town of Ruffa.
The sister of a woman who took her own life in the village told Siha it happened after she was raped by RSF soldiers in front of her father and brother. The two men were later killed.
A series of videos have been shared online in the last week showing numerous bodies wrapped in blankets from an alleged RSF massacre in Al Seriha.
BBC Verify has been able to confirm the location of this footage to the courtyard of a mosque in Al Seriha.
The evidence of suicides came from only two areas out of the 50 or so villages that have recently come under attack, Ms. Karib said, adding that the figure could be higher as mobile communications were patchy.
A female activist from Gezira, who requested to remain anonymous due to fearing for her life, told the BBC she had verified accounts of women taking their lives after their husbands had been killed by the RSF.
She had seen WhatsApp messages from one woman who described how her sister had taken her own life after being raped by RSF militiamen, who had also killed five of her brothers and some of her uncles in Al Seriha.
But like Siha, she said it was impossible to verify accounts on social media of reported mass suicides of women fearing rape given the communication problems.
On Tuesday, an 80-page UN report stated that since the conflict began, at least 400 survivors of conflict-related sexual violence have been documented up to July 2024, with the actual figure suspected to be much higher.
“The sheer scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is staggering,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, the UN chair of the panel that compiled the report.
Victims it documented have ranged from between eight and 75 years – with many of them needing medical treatment, but most hospitals and clinics have been destroyed in the fighting, the UN said.
RSF spokesperson Nizar Sayed Ahmed told the BBC: “These accusations are false and not based on evidence.
“To find out the facts on the ground, the UN must send a fact-finding team to Sudan,” he said.
Ms. Karib informed the BBC that Siha was attempting to keep in touch with the six women who were fearful of the RSF’s advance and considering taking their own lives.
She stated that Siha was providing them with psychological support as activists tried to figure out how they could relocate them to more secure locations.
She also mentioned that they were trying to assist a 13-year-old girl who had been gang-raped by RSF fighters in Gezira and was in urgent need of medical care.
The girl was currently on the road from her home village north of Ruffa to the town of New Halfa, and was bleeding profusely, she said.
Additional reporting from BBC’s Anne Soy and BBC Verify’s Peter Mwai.